Networked Twill ~ Finished and Started

I have the treadling for the Polka Dot pattern committed to memory…or so I thought!  I pulled the painted silk scarf off the loom I just loved it.  After wet finishing and hanging to dry I put started to twist the fringe and that’s when it appeared, a whopping big error.

On this side everything looks great, and this is what I saw on the loom. 

This is the reverse side and there it is….a three thread treadling error right across the scarf (about half way up on the left side)!  Just as well that I love this pattern and don’t have a scarf like this because this one is mine, yet again!  I seem to be the recipient of more and more of my scarves lately.  Not sure what that says about my concentration of late.

Since I’m not one to give in, I immediately put on another silk warp using the same pattern.  This warp is hand spun silk that I blogged about spinning here. 

I have used this silk to weave a scarf before and I found that the sweet pastel tones really didn’t leap to the fore, so I decided to add a bit more colour to the warp and I dropped, green, purple, turquoise and navy onto the pulled warp during my last ProcionMX dye day in August.

There was no question regarding the weft this time.  I decided to use 2/16 Bamboo in navy and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The weft is really fine so the painted silk really pops.

This scarf looks just like a painting of dappled water; it is without a doubt one of my favourite painted warps!  Hopefully, this silk scarf with come off without an error and I’ll be able to list it on Etsy.

Undulating and Networked Twill Projects

The undulating twill shawl is finished and I couldn’t be happier with it!  The buttons that I ordered online were a perfect fit and the subdued copper finish on the metal buttons is a wonderful addition to the soft rust and copper tones in the shawl.  This undulating twill is a real joy to weave and has a wonderful soft drape ~ perfect for a cape or shawl.  You can’t see me, but I’m doing a happy dance!  You can see more photos here.  

At the bottom of the last post I showed you the painted silk scarf that I had just started weaving.  I have been having my recurring difficulty with weft colours.  I was sure, and I mean sure that the Azure blue weft would compliment the various purples and highlight the turquoise in the warp, well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  What the Azure did was completely masked the turquoise and hide the variegation in the purple warp.  I also found that the 2/8 grist of the tencel over powered the 2/22 silk.  

My goal was to feature the wonderful colours of the warp, so I went to my stash and found this lovely single magenta silk.  It’s probably 1/30 ish and has long slubs that appear randomly. I was sure that this fresh colour would be perfect to show off the turquoise and that it would make the purple warp glow ~ right?  Wrong.  It just covered everything up and I couldn’t even see the polka dot pattern!

After much angst I settled on using a 2/10 black tencel weft.  The black toned down the luminosity and freshness of the warp, but it shows the pattern well and showcases the warp colours beautifully.  This scarf is still on the loom so it looks a bit loosey goosey right now but once wet finished it will be a stunner.

This is not the scarf that I envisioned at all, but it’s a real beauty nonetheless.

Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving day, so, 'Happy Turkey Day Everyone!'